Nii Okai Expresses His 'Gratitude'

He celebrated a decade in music ministry last year and since then, gospel artiste, Nii Okai, has not relented in expressing his gratitude to God for the success of his career on any platform he performs at. Come Sunday, September 21, he is expected to be the main attraction at St.Paul�s Methodist Cathedral in Tema Community 1 for this year�s My Gratitude Praise organised by the Wesleyan Praise. Since he emerged on the music scene with his debut album, 'Mokobe', in 2003, Nii Okai has been the toast of many lovers of gospel music because of his versatility and vocal prowess. His has mentored many singers, and that is what inspired the Weslayan Praise to bring him on board as the guest artiste, according to the President of the Wesleyan Praise, Kenneth Adu-Bempong, who spoke to Showbiz on Monday. Nii Okai is expected to perform songs from his repertoire such as 'Gye W�ayeyi', 'Hwan Na' and 'Halleluyah'. Other artistes billed to perform at the 4:00 pm show are Minister Kofi Karikari and the host choir, Wesleyan Praise. In a brief chat with Showbiz, the Mokobe singer expressed his delight to be the guest artiste on the day. According to him, he deemed such performances as �back to the roots� since such platforms provided him the confidence to hit it big in the music circles. �I always feel honoured to be with my brothers and sisters. I know we are in difficult times, but our challenges shouldn�t be an excuse for our inability to thank God at least for the gift of life,� he started. Wesleyan Praise is a music ministry formed in 1999 at the St. Paul�s Methodist Cathedral. As the Methodist church is known for its orthodox way of worship and hymns, the group was established as a praise and worship unit in the church. But the group has grown over the years to serve not just members from the Methodist church but other denominations with the institution of the annual My Gratitude show. �Wesleyan Praise is proud to serve both the Methodist church and other churches, and we hope to bring Christendom under one roof every year through this show,� Mr. Adu Bempong said. He stated that proceeds from the show will be invested in a fund established to support the underprivileged in society.